Publication Date
2024
Document Type
Dissertation/Thesis
First Advisor
Birner, Betty J.
Degree Name
Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy)
Legacy Department
Department of English
Abstract
Metaphor is not only figurative language, but also a way of understanding reality and creating truth. This study describes how selected American poets, including Tom Andrews, Patti Smith, and Natasha Trethewey, engage the concept of creation through metaphor in their poetic and autobiographical writing. Theories of signification, symbolism, and metaphor as defined by philosophers of language, including George Lakoff, Charles Sanders Peirce, and Roman Jakobson, are combined with complementary theories from philosophers of poetry, including Wallace Stevens, Jorie Graham, and Federico García Lorca, and used as a lens through which to view the agency of the language user as a creator and manipulator of meaning. Metaphor is described as a tool of linguistic autonomy within a multi-dimensional model of meaning, which is, often explicitly, used by these contemporary American poets and memoirists to present authentic literary versions of their stories. The topic is explored in three styles of writing: an academic article, a manuscript of poetry, and a collection of short essays.
Recommended Citation
Thompson, Richard Tony, "There is No Substitute for a Lifetime: A Study of Metaphor and Linguistic Autonomy in the Lives and Works of Selected American Poets" (2024). Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations. 7934.
https://huskiecommons.lib.niu.edu/allgraduate-thesesdissertations/7934
Extent
168 pages
Language
en
Publisher
Northern Illinois University
Rights Statement
In Copyright
Rights Statement 2
NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.
Media Type
Text
